I'm Me, That's All I Need to Know
by OpsComXGP
Summary: OneShot with Melfina and Benjamin Carmine. Melfina joins up with the COG as a private security firm on Heifong and runs into an old enemy from her past. Rated T for Teen due to mild language and action.


I am Me, That's All I Need to Know

I've always felt comfortable with myself in a new place, since I go into the place with knowledge that my friends will have my back. Today however was not one of those days, a day that made me feel empty inside. Fred gave out a job offer for a security firm known as the COG (Collation of Organized Governments) that had a payout of 800 Wong an hour on service and that the job was going to be for two weeks. The thing was that Gene is so picky about jobs that he felt were 'chump change' jobs, so I decided to accept the job on his behalf. Jim was hoping for something more on the wire for repair jobs or bounty hunting jobs, not to play the role of the police; but this firm was more than just security as I found out in a heartbeat.

When I arrived for the job at 9:30 in the morning as scheduled, I thought what Gene told me that it would be mostly desk work for these security firms. I then got directed to one of the chief officers on duty, Lt. Matthew Hughes who would assist me to where I'd be stationed on this two week job. "Nice to see that a woman is taking on the job here, we're gonna need all the help we can get." Lt. Hughes told me when I arrived in my business attire. I asked him that if I had any duties behind a desk on this job and he told me "I'm gonna be straightforward with you here, the work we do here isn't behind the desk or in the safety of an office complex. Our work is out on the frontlines and in the trenches, that being said, I hope you can do me well as a field medic for Delta squad." When I heard the term 'frontlines' I knew there and then that I was way over my head for this job. I was only a navigator for my team and a positive spark for when things get bad out there.

Before I could begin work for Delta, I had to have a physical to make sure that I was capable of working in the field. I was told that this was standard for new recruits who sign onto the COG; somehow I feel though that I got thrown into Delta just because of who I work for. After the physical, I get issued my armor and my equipment that was uncommon to me. I bumped into another officer and I thought that he was a veteran until "Are you Sgt. Fenix, Delta Squad?" he asked me. I responded to him that I'm joining up with him on Delta, but I was not this Sgt. Fenix he was talking about. "Private Ben Carmine Sir." he told me, which stunned me that he was a new kid off the bus and not some arrogant veteran that would have told me to sod off.

I introduced myself to Ben as me and he was surprised that I was not just on the same squad as he was, but I was a woman joining on the frontlines. I told Ben to just call me Mel, which he obliged, and that made me feel more comfortable around this situation. "Sgt. Fenix, are you Sgt. Fenix Delta squad? We're you're new trainees." Ben told to a man with short black hair and a doo rag on his head and was with a Hispanic man with short brown hair, a goatee, and a tattoo on his right arm that read 'Maria' on his arm. Sgt. Fenix noticed that Ben didn't come alone, being that I tagged along, he noticed me, but didn't say a word to me; but Ben on the other hand… "Drop the 'sir' shit kid; we're not that polite out here. Oh yeah…welcome to Delta."

We went out on our first patrol, that being myself and Ben, and I felt nervous around Sgt. Fenix that I had to just keep my mouth shut and hopefully he doesn't go off on me. "Don't worry about Marcus rook, he's been like that for a while now." the Hispanic man told me when I was looking around buildings to make sure things were at status quo. "Name's Dominic, but you can call me Dom if you like." I introduced myself to Dom and he didn't mind me being a woman in his squad with Marcus. "I believe that if a woman can do this job as good as the guys, bring her on." Dom told me which made me fell a whole lot better on the inside.

Once we finished our patrol, I had to pull Ben aside to have a conversation with him about who he was and why he joined up on this job. "I'm one of four brothers that's involved with the COG, well only three now." Ben told me and I paused for a moment to think about this young guy is one of four brothers that was involved with the security firm for some time. Dom soon came over and handed me some water, which I accepted, and talked to me about how he noticed his tattoo that I stared at when I first met him. "The tattoo; it's my wife, Maria, I've been looking for her for two years now and hopefully soon, I can bring her back home." Dom told me with a heavy heart in his chest. I had to let it sink in that this man was looking for his wife for the past two years without a clue; I wanted to apologize for the way that I was around Dom, but he told me that it wasn't my fault that I didn't know about his wife and he told me that if I see him get angry, just back off for the time being.

Marcus soon came back from meeting up with Lt. Hughes and he got us an assignment for us after our first patrol. The nervousness that was in my heart when I first saw Marcus came right back like a freight train as we walked in to discuss the assignment. When we walked into the briefing I saw a man with goggles above his head joined alongside Dom and Marcus with the briefing for this assignment. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we've just received Intel from Damon Baird here that some radicals are holding up a shipyard here on Heifong. We've been told that the radicals in question were once involved with a faux-terrorist threat on a space station in the Heifong system that resulted in a near-successful heist of near 750,000 Wong in jewelry and other valuables." Once I heard about the jewel heist, I knew who these guys were. I had dealt with these guys before and got somewhat of an understanding of how they operated; but I didn't want to say anything to worry Ben so I kept my mouth shut.

"Their leader goes by the name 'Cracker Jack' and this guy just gave out his demands." Lt. Hughes said as he got the tape recording of Cracker Jack's demands from Baird. I nervously held my hands to my chest, which got Marcus' attention. "We the people's liberation front demand an immediate removal of the man known as Gene Starwind and the crew of the Outlaw Star. If these demands are not met within five hours, we will set off a high-yield bomb at the Heifong shipyard that houses the ship you see behind us." As the footage went on, I felt a sense of déjà-vu all over again and now this got Ben worried which was the last thing I needed.

"The ship in question is called the 'Sword of Wind' and this ship has about 500 civilians on board that attended a tour of the now decommissioned warship. Your mission is simple: find the bomb, disarm it, find the civilians, and get them out alive." Lt. Hughes finished up and I felt a huge lump in my stomach like a boulder going downhill. Baird came over to discuss the best options we have for entry. "OK, now that we got the technical bullshit out of the way: these guys are average robbers who are looking for revenge on the scumbags who scrapped their previous operation and now raised the shit level to taking out civilians." Baird said with his unique charisma. "So, where's the best point of entry to get the hostages out of the ship without us getting noticed sarge?" Ben asked Marcus in a curious voice, not knowing that one of the 'scumbags' was sitting right next to him.

"We don't got time for hypothetical questions Carmine, let's get out there and deal with these assholes personally." Marcus said in a rather loud tone as he got a King Raven ready for the assignment. "Baird, you take Carmine and the rook with you to discuss the hostage situation; Dom and I got bomb disposal to take care of." Marcus said as he got his lancer ready for the mission. I tried so hard not to say anything throughout the briefing as we were en-route to the shipyard. Baird however seemed rather iffy on the way that I've been acting since the briefing. "Hey rook, seems to me that you've had a run in with these guys before." I knew right there that he would find out that I was a part of the crew that sabotaged Cracker Jack previously. A wave of emotions was going out inside my mind and I was worried that Ben wouldn't stick with me on our first mission.

"Baird, you ready for a rat-stompin' party or what? Whooo!" a voice on the tac-com rang out from what it seemed like he was right next to me. "Cole it's so good to hear your brash voice on a crisp afternoon." Baird said to a man named Cole on the tac-com. When I heard that loud voice ring out I felt somewhat better after Baird called me out on the previous incident with Cracker Jack. As we got off of the Raven and went to the location in which we would commence our part of the mission, Ben brought up what Baird asked me on the Raven. "So, did you deal with these guys before? I'm not trying to accuse you of being involved with the heist attempt; but I do want to know so I can feel a little better about dealing with these guys." When Ben asked me that if I had a previous engagement with Cracker Jack and that he was nervous about the situation, I took a moment to reflect that Ben had my back when we were on patrol and if I didn't have his back here, we're both screwed.

I told Ben that I was the Outlaw Star's navigator and that our ship was attached to an ad ship that had a bomb rigged the same way that they rigged it here. Ben patted me on the back and was grateful that he got to know a little more about me. "Rook, Carmine, get in there and follow Jack. Jack will lead you to where you can get the hostages out to safety." Baird told us as he got a robot that had been customized to do just about anything. The route that Baird sent us went through the sewer system, which sent me to flashbacks of another job a colleague of mine did. "Jeez this place smells like a brumak's ass and I'm wearing a helmet." Ben told me as he was trudging through the sewage carefully.

I got a little chuckle out of that small moment as we searched for the entrance to the Sword of Wind through the route that Jack had sent to our tac-coms. "Carmine, Rook, we've just disarmed the bomb and caught the bomb squad for this gang of robbers; the rest is on you guys." Marcus told us as we got inside the ship. The pressure was like an eighteen wheeler coming down the highway and I was the stalled car in front of the truck. "Sarge you got anything on the guy we're arresting before we rescue the hostages?" Ben asked Marcus as he got his hand on the hatch. "Take extra caution Carmine, these guys acquired firearms off the black market and they will not hesitate to shoot COGs like you on sight. Take extra caution when you enter." Marcus told Ben as Jack got the hatch opened.

Once we were inside, we took a moment to check our surroundings and made sure we got each other's back. "Remember we've got a crazed gunman here, so stick to cover." Ben told me as I shifted over to his right side. We went through the ship and as we were going along, I felt that we wouldn't have enough time to rescue the hostages. When all hope seemed lost, we managed to find the hostages in a food storage room inside the ship. "Carmine to Delta one, we've located the hostages beginning rescue operation." Ben told Marcus in military terms. "Copy that Carmine, any sign of Cracker Jack yet?" "Negative no sign of Cracker Jack at this time sarge." Ben responded back to Marcus. I felt a big whack come across my back as I was taken down from behind. Ben took care of a couple of the terrorists that followed him, but he got taken down from behind by another member of Cracker Jack's group.

"Well, well, well…look what we have here boys." Cracker Jack said as he removed my helmet and threw it to the side. "So, how'd the captain's little bitch end up with assholes like the COG?" Jack ended up catching a transmission of myself in Cracker Jack's hands along with Ben being held up by a couple of his thugs. "Wait a frickin' minute…you mean to tell me that the rook is…" Baird was about to ask Marcus about me being the walk-on for Delta; but Marcus had it all figured out from the moment I walked off the bus. "We've got two rookies out there and about 500 civilians on that ship; worry about your god damn ethics later Baird. Dom, you and I are going in there to get our rookies out of there. Baird, Cole; you two make sure that the creeps we caught don't have any other means to blow this ship up got it?" Without even a hesitation, Delta team moved into action.

As I was feeling the cold steel of Cracker Jack's pistol on the side of my head, I had a sense that this was it for me. "This is us returning the favor for you screwing us over on our last run in and this time your 'captain' won't be able to save you now." Cracker Jack said as he cocked the gun and was about to blow my head off of my shoulders. A loud bang came from the back of the hall and in that moment, Ben took down the two guys who were holding him and got me free from Cracker Jack and we continued with the operation. "You little bitch!" Cracker Jack yelled as he got his pistol right at my head, when Marcus tackled him down to the ground and took the gun out of his hands. Dom joined in on us getting the hostages out of the ship. I breathed a sigh of relief that this mission was over.

After the mission was deemed a success, I watched the news report on the incident and I felt a sinking feeling in my chest that I got involved with a job that Gene considered to be a 'chump change' job from the get go. Marcus sat down next to me and he wanted to talk to me in private about today. "Mel, you did great out there today, I mean that. I'm not the conversational type of guy, but I felt that I needed to chat with you." Marcus told me as he patted me with his heavy hand on my back. Even though Marcus' words were for the right reasons, I still felt guilty by not telling him who I was and how I had dealt with Cracker Jack last time. "I understand that you felt a bit uncomfortable around me for the obvious reasons and I get why you didn't want to say anything in front of me. I've looked at your files and it all made sense when I saw the footage that Jack sent me from inside the ship." Somehow I know that Marcus was just gonna drill me into the ground for not telling him.

"I figured out that you were the navigator onboard the Outlaw Star in the previous attempt by Cracker Jack's gang in that bank heist. Look, I know I'm not your pals; but we're a team out here and it might not look like from the outside, yet I still want to take care of my squad and to make sure that we all get out alive." Marcus told me which made me reflect on how I was around Gene the first few days I've been around him. I then remembered what I said to Gene back on Sentinel III before we set off on our next adventure "I know I'm still me, that's all I need to know." and I guess Marcus felt the same way, he just didn't show it as much. "Next time we're on a mission, try to speak up a little more than you would have; Makes for a lot more success here than just being a quiet type out on the frontline."

If this was just the first day on the job, I had to get ready for anything. Some 'chump change' job I got into huh?


End file.
